CEO Pay Watch: James Cracchiolo, Ameriprise Financial

Total compensation: $97,375,517 for the year ended December 31, 2014

Salary: $950,000

Non-equity incentive pay: $11,685,000

Other compensation: $920,553

Exercised stock options: $73,535,485

Value realized on vesting shares: $10,284,479

New stock options: 169,313

Total 2014 shareholder return: 17.2 percent

Note: Cracchiolo took home $97.4 million in 2014, a 5.6 percent increase from the $92.2 million he made in 2013.

Much of Cracchiolo's compensation from the past two years has been from the exercise of previously issued options that were set to expire. Approximately 97 percent of the options Cracchiolo exercised in 2014 were initially granted in 2007 and 2008.

Cracchiolo got no increase to his base salary. His annual incentive compensation increased 7.3 percent to $11.7 million as Ameriprise exceeded its targeted financial and strategic goals for 2014. The incentive payments were 190 percent of targeted goals as the company surpassed revenue, operating earnings, operating earnings per share and return on equity targets.

For the fourth straight year, Ameriprise has returned more than 100 percent of its operating earnings to its shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.

Patrick Kennedy